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A while back, my friend and fellow photographer, Lola Akinmade-Åkerström, sent me this incredible image in an e-mail she sends out called geotraveller’s niche.I was floored.

Lola and I met on a Toronto for Photographers tour for tbex travel bloggers in June last year. She taught me a lot about shooting people, especially approaching potential subjects. In the months past I’ve gotten to know her work better, but still, this shot blew me away: The incredible humanness on that face, the cool condensation on the can, and especially the fingerprint of the left hand. I was connected profoundly to that being, with his lids closed in concentration of pure physical pleasure. The cold, the sweetness, ah!

Strangely though, Lola undersold her fanta-stic ape (excuse the pun) with an apology of sorts: “it’s one of my personal favourites”, she wrote, “– the human-like gestures and expression of absolute enjoyment on the monkey’s face; it’s also one of my least favourite because monkeys really shouldn’t be cooling off on hot and humid days with Fanta.”

I believe that photography should be a coup. Literally. A slap in the face or a shock to the system.

So I wrote her right back and then worried I’d written undiplomatically and in the wrong tone. “It’s a great photo because of it, I wrote, “It’s a shock. We need to be shocked. Keep doing it and for God’s sake don’t apologize for capturing the stupidity of men or the complexities of life.” Then I followed up with a note to say that I’d like to blog about it.

My hastiness with an e-mail has cost me in the past, but this one had a happy ending. She accepted my criticism along with my acclaim and said yes, I could blog about it.

Do you have a shot that’s bowled you over? I’d love to see it — why not post it here, on my facebook page.